Why we wrote this story. . .

Where did you get the idea for this story?

LYNNE: Just over a decade ago, a newspaper picture of a terrified albino caught my attention. As I read about the horrors these fragile people face, I couldn’t believe such evil existed in the world. I called Lisa, who lives in Mozambique, and asked her to find out if what she’d read was true.

LISA: Until Lynne wrote to me about the article she’d read, I’d never heard of these barbaric crimes. But after doing some further research, I discovered that what she’d read was true. Once we learned that the witch doctors use the pale skin and hair of these fragile people to make good luck charms and potions, we knew we had to tell their story.

Is the plight of albinos real or something you made up for this story?

LYNNE: Sadly, the atrocities committed against those born with this genetic mutation is very real. Less than 2% of Tanzanian albinos survive beyond their 40^th birthday.

Why did you feel that writing about the atrocities happening to albinos was a story that needed to be told?

LYNNE: We both have a heart for those suffering prejudice and discrimination. People with albinism are not ghosts. They are human beings.

LISA: And this issue goes far beyond the horrors facing albinos. All around the world people are discriminated against. Sometimes it’s for the color of their skin. Other times it’s for their faith or beliefs. But in the end, we are all human beings and we all bleed the same color.

Under the Sun has some great information here about Albinism and the issues facing them today in Africa.  The discrimination toward these people is what moved us into writing Ghost Heart.